At the start of each game, you choose five of the forty weapons provided. That's right – forty weapons, and they are not all variations on the shotgun, either. They include bazookas, mini-guns, banana bombs, and many other creative weapons that you have to use to find out what they do. The game looks a lot like Worms 1 (in fact, you could say it's a clone), but in my opinion is much more fun because you're playing in real-time. One of the game's strengths is that it is highly customizable. You can change most settings in the game, e.g. lives, health, reload times, player colors, and so on.

The author describes the game as "an earthworm simulation game based on a real physical model", and he's not kidding about the "real physical model". The game not only obeys the laws of physics, but feels real. The Ninja Rope, (a concept "borrowed" from Worms 1) really feels like an elastic string, and the trajectory of bullets follows realistic curves. And of course, I have to mention the gore, which is definitely one of the game's attractions: when you blast enemy earthworms, you will see their blood splattered on the screen, quite realistically. Okay, so it may not be a politically correct game, but since we're talking about earthworms drawn in cartoon style, I don't think anyone can blame Liero for cultivating a violent streak in kids ;)

There's no better proof of the game's addictiveness than the fact that there are dozens, if not hundreds, of Liero fansites on the WWW, and numerous fanmade levels and clones. One of the best fanmade add-ons to the original is Johan Otterud's level editor, aptly named WormHole, which lets you design your own Liero levels, by using any of your favorite graphics software. He also designed Liero Graphics Editor and Blood Increaser, two excellent add-ons that I guarantee will tremendously increase your enjoyment (and gore ;)) of the already awesome game. You can download all these programs from the WormHole website in the related links below. (In fact, the screenshot above shows a level not included with the original Liero but created with Otterud's tools. Also be sure to check out other great fansites that will insure Liero popularity among fans of quick action fun for years to come. If you're an action fan, and especially a multiplayer action fan, Liero is a must-have.